Family Matters
by LurkerLa
Summary: When John makes an effort to mend bridges with his family, he is forced to confront his fears from the past and his dreams for the future. SheppardWeir pairing, follows on from my fic Letters from Milky Way
1. Chapter 1

Title: Family Matters  
Author: La  
Rating: Teen and up, I suppose. First chapter's pretty innocuous, though.  
Pairing: John/Elizabeth  
Summary: When John makes an effort to mend bridges with his family, he is forced to confront his fears from the past and his dreams for the future.  
Spoilers: Follows on from my fic "Letters from Milky Way" and won't make sense if you've not read that first. Thus far no spoilers, but there may be later on.  
Author's Note: Just playing with them some more. I can't decide if I'm heading towards being nice to John, or mean to him, so we'll just see. Constructive criticsm, high praise, and feedback always appreciated. ;)

Disclaimer: Atlantis characters aren't mine - I'm just playing. I do own Kathy, Hanna, and David, though.

* * *

John took a deep breath, studying the door in front of him. He raised a hand to knock, but dropped it back to his side. 

This was ridiculous. He shouldn't be this nervous standing in front of a suburban house on a sunny Saturday in California. He could face down an angry Caldwell, an irate Rodney, a ravenous Wraith, and, most terrifying, a disappointed Elizabeth all before breakfast, but it had taken him a good fifteen minutes to get himself out of the car and onto the front stoop and now he was afraid to knock.

He shook his head at himself. He didn't need to worry. Hadn't Kathy said she'd love to see him? Hadn't their letters shown that things were better between them? He didn't need to be afraid of a bit of awkwardness. He wasn't going to chicken out, not this close.

His hand was raised to knock when he heard the honk of a car horn behind him. He turned to see a car pulling into the driveway. The driver paused briefly to wait for the garage door to finish rising, and through the tinted window, John could make out a woman with long, wavy hair, the rest of her features hidden behind dark glasses.

Inside the garage a car door slammed, and then there were footsteps and then she was in front of him, saying, "John?"

He didn't reply at first, taking in the sight of her. She was older. _Of course she is, you idiot_, he told himself. It had been twenty years after all. But despite the faint lines at the corners of her eyes and a few worry lines on her forehead she was still instantly recognizable as his big sister.

She'd broken out in a grin when she first saw him, but the smile was starting to fade in the face of his silence. Recollecting himself, he scuffed one foot on the cement walkway and said, "Hello, Kathy."

"Johnny!" And she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Taking his arm she started drawing him to the garage. "You're here! I can't believe you're really here!"

"I, uh, was recalled for a bit and got some downtime..." he started to explain.

"Help me get all these groceries into the house and I'll make us some coffee and then we can talk. How long can you stay? The kids should be home before too long, and Eric'll be back for dinner, and I'd love for you to meet them."

John looked down into her face, seeing excitement there but also a hint of worry. Worry that he wouldn't like her family, that he wouldn't want to meet them, or what? Smiling to put her at ease, he allowed himself to be drawn into her house.

* * *

They'd put the groceries away in comfortable silence, with Kathy pointing him in the right direction for each item. He'd accidentally grabbed a box of tampons from one of the bags and had dropped it quickly on the kitchen floor, earning a dirty, amused look from his sister. It reminded him of the first time he stumbled across her "feminine products" in their bathroom growing up, and he had to grin back at her. For the time being, at least, it was as if twenty-plus years of tension and history had simply melted away.

When the bags were all emptied and folded, Kathy started a pot of coffee and pointed him in the direction of the family room. He wandered the room, stopping to look at the pictures hanging on the wall. One was obviously a few years old, and showed Kathy with a toddler and a baby, a tall man with slightly thinning hair standing behind her.

Kathy came up beside him. "That's Hanna," she said, pointing to the baby. "And David," she gestured to the toddler.

"They look cute," he said, turning his attention to her husband. "And he looks... nice." What did one say when one was looking at the picture of the man one's sister had married years before? Everything in her letters indicated that they'd been happy over the last 14 years.

She smiled. "He is."

John moved on to another photograph, this one several years older. His sister was beautiful in her wedding gown, and even he, as oblivious as he could be, could tell that her groom was head-over-heels crazy about her. He felt an unexpected pang, looking at it.

"Kath... I'm sor... I should... I wish I'd been there when you got married."

Kathy pulled him to a chair and forced him into it. "You're here, now. We can't keep rehashing the past, Johnny. What's important is where we are now."

He glanced to one side, licking his lips but not saying anything. The silence was just becoming uncomfortable when a timer dinged in the kitchen.

"Coffee's ready," Kathy stated the obvious, standing. "How do you take yours?"

John told her, and watched as she left the room to fix it. He leaned back in the chair, tilting his head against the back. He thought of all the questions he wanted to ask her, questions about their father, about her, and about how she felt towards him. But he didn't want to drag up issues that she'd rather not talk about, so he settled instead on one that had been burning in the back of his mind since her second letter to him.

Kathy came back into the room, handing him a mug and settling on the loveseat that was catty-corner to his own chair. He took a sip, smiled in appreciation, and turned to ask her his question.

"So, how exactly did David manage to lock himself in your neighbor's freezer?"

* * *

By the time they reached their third cup each, they were both laughing. Kathy had a seemingly endless number of amusing stories about her kids and her coworkers, and John tried his best to match her by recounting his adventures with various Air Force buddies over the years. She was winning, but John assured himself that was only because some of his best stories were related to classified operations.

The front door banged open, and two sets of footsteps made a beeline for the kitchen. Kathy surged to her feet mid-story, raising her voice. "Door!"

One set of footsteps returned to the front entrance and John heard the creak and snick of the door shutting and latching. Kathy spoke again. "Shoes!"

The other set of footsteps returned to the entrance, and John heard the thud of shoes hitting the floor.

Apparently satisfied, Kathy called out to her wayward children. "Come on in here! There's someone I want you to meet."

The children that appeared at the entrance to the room were dirty and disheveled from a day of weekend play, but John could instantly see their resemblance to his sister.

David came into the room first. From Kathy's letters, John knew he was ten and a huge football fan. Hanna hung back a little, tilting her head to one side so her ponytail swung free, studying him with a single minded intensity that reminded him of himself when he was younger. With her dark hair and eyes, she was clearly Kathy's daughter, but he also thought he saw something of his own mother in her. Her outfit—pink socks, ripped jeans, a t-shirt proclaiming something about being a queen, and a dirty baseball cap and glove—upheld what he'd learned in Kathy's letters—eight-years-old, and unable to decide if she wanted to be a princess or tomboy.

Kathy reached out and put an arm around each child. "Kids, this is my brother, John. Your Uncle John."

David looked at her quizzically. "The one in the Air Force?" he asked. At Kathy's nod, he looked back at John, eyes bright. "Cool! Do you have a gun? Have you ever had to kill someone? Can you fly a plane?"

John opened and shut his mouth a few times, unsure of how to reply. He'd had no problem handling Jinto's hero worship, but somehow it seemed different coming from his own nephew.

He was saved by a soft voice at his side. "Uncle John? Can you come outside and toss a baseball for me?"

Hanna had migrated from her mother's side to his, and she curled her hand into his. Looking from her eyes to those of her brother, he marveled at their instant acceptance of him.

John grinned. "Sure. If it's okay with your mom, why don't we go play some ball and I'll answer some of your questions, David."

Kathy nodded and both kids left in search of their shoes.

* * *

They played until the light started to go. Both kids had fired a never-ending stream of questions, which John answered as best he could. David had a wry wit and seemed to enjoy trying to put his uncle and sister off-balance. At first John had worried about Hanna's seemingly quiet acceptance of her brother's teasing, but he soon learned that she liked to save up her responses until she could loose one well-timed zinger that would surprise David into silence.

John led them both back into the house when the fading light made it hard to see the ball and an argument about whether David's aim or Hanna's swinging was to blame for her latest "strike" seemed about to break out.

Kathy was in the kitchen, stirring a pot of pasta. "You cook?" John asked, incredulously, dropping into a chair.

She mock-glared at him. "Shut up. And, no, I usually don't. Eric does, but he had a meeting this evening, so I'm stuck doing it."

"Your kids are fun. But they asked the damnedest questions," John remarked, thinking back to one David had asked him.

"Oh, no. David asked you about aliens, didn't he?"

John shot her a surprised look. "Yeah."

"Eric's been watching old episodes of the X-Files, and now David's convinced that the military and the government are hiding aliens. Last birthday all he wanted was a trip to Area 51. Or Roswell, if we couldn't swing Nevada. He said as a last resort he'd take a trip to Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson. I don't even know where the last one is!"

"Well, he's got a good imagination," John said uncomfortably, wondering how his sister would take the news that her ten-year-old son was actually sort of on the right track.

"Yes, he does." Kathy tasted the pasta, nodded to herself, and moved to a cabinet. Handing John a stack of plates, she directed him to set the table. "You looked good out there with them."

"They're good kids," he replied.

"You ever think about having your own?"

"Kath... you know something about what my life is like. Not exactly ideal conditions for parenthood."

"Not now, no. But maybe someday?"

John just shook his head. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about kids – he liked them well enough and would like to have some someday. But that had always been a vague "someday" far in the future. And if the formless idea of his future family had started taking on shape in his mind – the shape of a little girl with wavy brown hair and green eyes and her tall, strong mother with her angular and beautiful face, her own hazel eyes smiling at him – well, his sister didn't need to know that.

"Not soon," he said. "And besides I don't even know if El—" he cut himself, off, horrified. He hadn't meant to say that! He hadn't even known he was thinking it.

Predictably, his sister picked up on it. "El? El-who? Johnny, do you have a girlfriend?" Her voice held a teasing note, but he could tell that she really was curious.

He was saved by the ringing of his cell phone. Frowning, he fished it out of his pocket glanced down at the SGC issued phone, finding only the generic outgoing call number for Cheyenne Mountain on the caller ID. He smiled apologetically to Kathy and flipped it open.

"Sheppard."

"John?" Elizabeth's voice was a welcome sound, even though it had only been a day since he'd last heard it.

"Hi," he said, knowing he was grinning stupidly but unable to help it. At least he'd had enough sense not to say her name in front of his sister.

"How is it going?" She sounded concerned – not terribly so, but enough that he knew she'd been thinking about him.

He'd told her yesterday of his plans to visit his sister. She'd thought it was a wonderful idea, but had been worried about how he would handle the sudden reintroduction to his past.

"It's fine," he assured her before telling her a bit about his day.

She asked a few more questions for reassurance, but John knew they weren't the ones that were really pressing on her. Finally, she came to it.

"When are you going to visit his grave?" He couldn't see her, but he knew her eyes would be soft and worried, a small frown line forming between her brows. Unconsciously, he started to raise a hand to smooth it away, stopping when he realized he was standing in Kathy's dining room and not with Elizabeth at the SGC.

"Tomorrow."

"Are you... will you...?" He frowned. Elizabeth was never at loss for words.

"Elizabeth?" he said, only realizing he'd spoken her name when he heard Kathy's indrawn breath as she placed silverware on the table behind him.

"Are you okay going alone? Would you... would you like some company?"

Touched, John smiled. "You'd come?"

"Of course!" she said.

"I'd like that."

Elizabeth told him that she'd already arranged for a car from the SGC – just in case – and that she'd start driving up tonight, stopping along the way for the night and meeting him at his hotel tomorrow.

He was telling her his room number when Kathy interrupted. "Johnny, I don't mean to eavesdrop, but you don't have to stay at a hotel. Stay here with us tonight."

"Elizabeth, can you hold on a second?" he said, putting his hand over the mouthpiece. "Are you sure?" he asked his sister.

She nodded and he turned back to the phone. "Change of plans. Meet me at my sister's house instead. Got something to write down directions?"

When he hung up, his sister was waiting for him in the kitchen. She looked up from the glass she was filling with water and gave him a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin. "So, Elizabeth? Tell me about her."

John licked his lips nervously and glanced around the room for an escape.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Well, this took a lot longer to get out than I thought. And just a few hours earlier today, I figured I wasn't going to get to it any time soon. And yet, here it is. I feel like I ought to apologize for the long wait, but my lovely beta, Sally, tells me that instead I should just say that I've been prodding others for fic, so I haven't been completely unproductive.

Don't worry - chapter three is almost done and ready for Sally to read, so I'm thinking it won't take as long as this one did. :)

Spoiler warning: Nothing too specific, but consider yourself warned for all the way through season two, and some minor speculation on season three.

* * *

When John shut the door to Kathy's house behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief. So far, so good – he hadn't had to answer any questions about Elizabeth. He was under no illusion that he could escape forever, but at least he'd bought some time.

He'd been lucky the night before; Kathy's husband Eric had come home before she could finish grilling him. John had taken an instant liking to his brother-in-law, and the two of them had stayed up late into the night discussing the intricacies of football, John's Air Force experiences – it turned out Eric was a military brat – and whether or not ESPN should really be showing poker tournaments.

Kathy had given up shortly after midnight and headed to bed. John hated to admit it, but it had been kind of a relief. He was loving this opportunity to reconnect with his sister, but 20 years of distance hadn't prepared him for her constant presence. On top of that, seeing her happily married with kids of her own was bringing up memories of his childhood, both happy and sad, and he wasn't entirely up to facing them just yet.

So when Elizabeth had called to let him know she was almost at Kathy's house, he'd started haunting the front windows. He knew the polite thing to do would be to invite Elizabeth in to meet his family, let her rest from the road a bit – and he intended to do so, but later. Right now all he wanted to do was escape.

He was out the door the instant he saw Elizabeth pull into the driveway. He couldn't see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but her posture registered surprise at his haste. When he pulled open the passenger side door, he could see her hand on the ignition keys, about to turn off the car.

"Hi," he said breathlessly, buckling himself in.

She left the car running and turned to him, sliding the glasses down her nose to look at him. Arching an eyebrow, she asked, "In a hurry?"

His gaze darted to the side once before settling on her face. "A little."

Elizabeth didn't reply and he cleared his throat. His eyes flickered to the front of the house, where he could see Kathy standing at the front window. "Kathy gave me directions to the graveyard," he said, pulling out a folded sheet of paper.

Elizabeth still said nothing, studying him, and John couldn't help but feel that she could see right through him, that she knew why he wasn't doing the right thing and inviting her in. After a moment, she turned her attention back to the windshield, shifted the car into reverse, and began backing out of the driveway.

"Where to?" she asked.

* * *

Elizabeth wasn't sure what to expect from John when she picked him up. He'd told her bits and pieces of his family history during their time together on Atlantis – the bare bones of the story – but she wasn't sure how deep the hurt went. She knew he'd been trying to reconnect with his sister through their letters, but she wasn't sure how successful he'd been.

When they'd been recalled to Earth last week for review by the international committee members, he'd mentioned the idea of seeing Kathy. Elizabeth had been enthusiastic, although she couldn't help but worry that things wouldn't go as well as he hoped.

Still, when she'd talked to him on the phone last night, he'd sounded happy. And she was glad his sister had insisted he stay the night there – Elizabeth was looking forward to meeting Kathy, as she assumed she would when she arrived to pick John up.

She was completely unprepared for the John who'd come racing like a bat out of hell to her car, who hadn't wanted to bring her inside. She felt a little hurt – why didn't he want his family to meet her? – but almost as soon as he got in the car she could see the shadows haunting his eyes. No matter how happy he'd been the night before, this was still a strain on him.

As Elizabeth took the last turn he indicated, passing under the cemetery's gates, she couldn't help but worry that the strain was about to increase.

* * *

The site was well maintained, John noted, pulling up his pantlegs and crouching in front of the head stone. He lightly traced the letters. "Beloved father," he said softly.

His hand dropped back down, brushing a small bouquet of flowers. They were pretty fresh, probably only a day or two old, and John noticed a small bit of white paper sticking out from underneath them. He tugged it gently until it was free.

It was a crayon drawing – a series of stick figures. Fortunately for John, the figures were labeled; otherwise he'd never have recognized his sister's family. From the way the smallest figure – a girl with pigtails – was labeled "Me," he gathered that his niece was the artist.

There were five figures in the picture, although the fifth was off to one side. The one was another man, with spiky dark hair, and above him a shaky hand had written "Uncle Jon." Across the top of the paper that same hand had scrawled a sentence. "In case you get lonely up there."

John smiled, touched that Hanna had included him even before she'd met him. He put the paper down and looked back at the stone.

"Hi, Dad," he said.

* * *

Elizabeth leaned against the passenger side of the car, arms folded over her stomach as she watched John kneel in front of the head stone. She was far enough back that she couldn't hear what he was saying – she knew he'd want privacy for that – but from the tenseness of his shoulders she judged that the words weren't coming easily.

Not surprising, given their relationship or lack thereof, she mused, turning to look over the rest of the cemetery in an effort to give John even more privacy.

It was a beautiful place, grassy with several mature trees along the outlying edges. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and simply basked in the familiar sunshine of Earth. Although Atlantis was home now, and she still found herself listening for the ocean as she fell asleep, it felt good to be back.

It was like spending the summer at her grandparents' house, Elizabeth mused. Comfortable and homey, but not home. A place of little worries. She smiled wryly to herself, knowing she was romanticizing life on Earth but unable to help it. In a way, life had been easier, despite the pressures of the jobs she'd held prior to coming to the SGC. At least back then, she'd been confident in herself, knowing beyond all doubt that the decisions she made were right. Life on Atlantis had shaken that confidence, leaving her uncertain about some of her recent actions.

She glanced back over at John, noticing that he'd paused in his speaking and was glancing around, licking his lips as he often did when he was uncomfortable. As she watched, though, he seemed to gather his thoughts and turned back to his father's head stone.

Returning to her own thoughts, Elizabeth had to smile again as she remembered their arrival back on Earth. They'd barely finished the basic debrief and were on their way to the infirmary when Dr. Daniel Jackson had accosted her in the hallway, waxing eloquent about what the Atlantis expedition had discovered about the Ancients, and how that tied in with the SGC's own findings.

Daniel was the only person she'd looked forward to seeing when they'd been recalled to Earth for review after the latest near miss with the Wraith. Wrapped up in her own concerns about her leadership abilities and guilt about some of the decisions she'd been forced to make, she hadn't been certain she could face an inquisition by the international committee.

It had helped to hear some of Daniel's own experiences with finding the balance between a civilian and military way of life, his own discomfort with some of his actions. And to her surprise she'd found an unlikely ally in Hank Landry. Perhaps John's military mindset had affected her more than she'd realized.

Recalled to her location by the thought of him, she turned to find John again. He was standing now, and even though she couldn't see his face Elizabeth could tell by the set of his shoulder and his stance that he was much more relaxed.

She hoped coming here had been as good for him as she'd thought it would be.

After a moment, John turned around and started walking toward her. His gaze was introspective, and as much as Elizabeth wanted to ask him how it had gone, she didn't feel as if she could intrude on his thoughts. So she walked around to the driver's side and got into the car. John slid into the passenger seat and stared out the windshield for a minute. Then he seemed to shake himself, and turned to look at her.

"So," he said, grinning. "I think we'd better go back to my sister's house so I can introduce you. I'm pretty sure I'm already going to be in trouble for not inviting you in when you first got there."

Elizabeth smiled back at him and started the car. As they passed through the cemetery's gates and onto the main road, she glanced over at him. "You okay?" she asked, trying to convey all her concern and affection for him in that one question.

He didn't answer for a minute, head cocked to one side. Then he slid her a shy smile. "Yeah."

They rode in silence for the next few minutes, and then John broke the silence with a joke about Rodney's debreifing at the SGC, and the rest of the drive passed with talk about work.

* * *

When they pulled back into Kathy's driveway, John could see Hanna and David playing in the front yard. At least, he hoped it was play, because otherwise he had a homicidal nephew and a dead niece, but given that he could see Hanna breathing from where she lay on the ground, he didn't think that was the case.

Elizabeth stopped the car, and John turned to her. "Are you really sure you want to meet them? I should warn you that Kathy's probably going to ask you a lot of questions."

"About you?" Elizabeth asked, a little surprised.

"Uh, and about you, too," he replied. At her look he added, defensively, "I, uh, might have said something last night that gave her the impression that we... that, uh, you and I..."

He was saved from finishing the sentence when he heard Hanna let out a little scream. Throwing off his seat belt, he noticed Elizabeth doing the same. They were both out of the car and on the lawn before he realized nothing was wrong.

Hanna was standing facing David, hands on her hips. "It was too good enough!" she cried.

"Was not! You didn't sound at all like you were dying!"

"Did too!"

"Not!"

John cleared his throat before the fight could really get going. When both kids turned to look at him, he raised an eyebrow at Hanna. "Dying?"

She pouted at him, looking adorable with her lower lip sticking out and bits of grass adorning her messy ponytail. John was grateful he was just her uncle, because he was sure he'd never be able to punish her. Spoiling, though, he could handle.

"We're playing aliens," she said. "It's no fair! I _always_ have to be the alien, and David's always the good guy. I want to be the good guy and kill the evil alien sometime!"

Beside him, John could sense that Elizabeth was trying not to laugh. He didn't dare look at her, knowing if he did they would both be goners.

Seeing that David was winding up for a response, John decided to head him off. "Tell you what. Maybe later I can play the alien and you can _both_ kill me."

At that, Elizabeth lost it, and her laughter directed the attention of both kids to her.

They studied her intently for a moment, much as they had John the previous afternoon. Finally, David spoke up. "Are you Uncle John's girlfriend?"

Elizabeth's laughter died, and her eyes widened as she glanced her John nervously. He had no help to offer, and he shifted his gaze to one side, licking his lips.

She appeared to think for half a second longer before replying. "Why do you ask?"

Turning the question back on him, John though approvingly. Way to avoid it, Elizabeth! He wasn't sure if he was supposed to feel good or bad that she'd done so.

David's eyes narrowed as he studied the woman in front of him. She smiled at him, and his lips quirked up in a gesture that reminded John of himself. "Why won't you answer?" the boy asked.

Elizabeth's eyebrow rose in surprise, and John could feel his own do the same. He smothered a grin as he watched them, wondering if Elizabeth had met her match in his ten-year-old nephew.

He didn't get to see how things would play out, however, because at that moment, his sister opened the front door.

"John! You're back. I didn't hear you pull up. Why don't you all come in? Eric's just getting lunch ready."

The kids instantly charged toward the house, Elizabeth and John forgotten in favor of food. John and Elizabeth followed at a more sedate pace. As they reached Kathy, she put out a hand.

"You must be Elizabeth. I'm Kathy. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Elizabeth replied, smiling.

"Please, come in," Kathy said, smiling back. There was something sharklike in that smile, John thought, wondering if being around kids had put his imagination into overdrive. But then he glanced over at Elizabeth and noticed that she was watching Kathy with worry as well, and he realized that he had every right to be a bit nervous.

It was going to be an interesting afternoon.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Well, so far I haven't hit writer's block again - chapter four is all written and ready for my edit before being sent to my wonderful beta and I've even got a start on chapter five. Here's hoping that I don't get stuck again before the end. :)

Much thanks to Sally for the beta, and for being the one who prodded me into writing again. :)

Thanks also to everyone who has reviewed! I'm terrible at answering individual reviews, but I want you to know that I really appreciate the feedback, and am so exicted when I check my email and find another review waiting!

Spoiler warnings and disclaimers in the previous chapters

* * *

Once they were inside the house, Elizabeth quietly asked for the restroom, wanting to use the facilities and freshen up a little bit after her drive. Kathy directed her down the hall to the half-bath, then turned to John and gave him an assessing look. 

"Did you find the cemetery okay?" she asked as they headed into the kitchen.

Eric looked up from where he was arranging lunch meats on a tray, obviously interested in the conversation as well.

John nodded. "The directions were fine." He didn't say anything else for a moment, and Kathy and Eric kept quiet, moving about the kitchen getting things ready for lunch while they waited for him to speak.

He sighed. "I talked to him," he said. "It helped. Got some things off my chest."

Kathy nodded. "I do that, too. I like to think he's there, and that he can hear what I'm saying, even if he can't respond."

"Yeah." John grinned, then. "I saw Hanna's drawing."

Kathy smiled back. "She likes to leave a new one every time we go. And she insisted on putting you into them as soon as I told her about you."

"She's a great kid," John said. He nodded to Eric. "You're going to have trouble with her when she gets older."

Eric rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I'm already thinking about finding an all girls high school."

Kathy punched his arm lightly before reaching down and taking his hand. "You will do no such thing."

Smiling at their byplay, John said, "She looks like Mom."

Still holding her husband's hand, Kathy turned to her brother. "She does. I have some pictures of Mom when she was a kid, and she and Hanna could almost be twins. I'll show them to you later, if you want."

"I'd like that," John replied, although he wasn't entirely certain he would. He was only just coming to terms with his sister and his father; he wasn't sure he wanted to bring too much focus onto his mother just yet.

"Okay," Kathy said. Then she handed him a stack of plates, and a few glasses and picked up the rest of the glasses and a pitcher of something and gestured for him to follow her to the dining room.

Elizabeth followed the sounds of voices – grown up, voices, that was, since she could hear the kids upstairs arguing as they washed up in their bathroom – back to the kitchen. When she got there, neither Kathy nor John was in the room. Instead she found a tall man standing by the counter, slicing up carrot and celery sticks and arranging them on a plate.

She cleared her throat, and he turned to look at her.

"Hi," she said.

He wiped his hands on a towel and stretched out his right one. "Hi! I'm Eric Mayrand, Kathy's husband. You must be Elizabeth."

Elizabeth shook his hand. "Elizabeth Weir," she replied.

"Weir?" Kathy said from behind her. Elizabeth turned and saw her standing with John in the doorway.

Kathy turned a quizzical look to John. "Weir?" she repeated. "As in Dr. Weir? The one who you said is in charge of _everything_?"

"Uh, yeah," John said, and from his expression Elizabeth knew he trying to think back on what he'd written in his letters. She knew he hadn't mentioned her first name; he'd confessed that it was force of habit to refer to everyone by last name in writing. But he surely hadn't written anything that would warrant Kathy's sly smile upon finding out that Dr. Weir and Elizabeth were one and the same.

Elizabeth smiled a diplomat's smile, the one she used when she wasn't entirely sure if a situation had shifted in her favor or against her. Before she could say anything, however, Kathy spoke up again.

"John's written a lot about you."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at the man in question. "Good things, I hope."

"Oh, yes." And there was that worrying smile again, the one Kathy had worn when she greeted them at the front door, the one that made Elizabeth swallow nervously in anticipation of the conversation ahead of her.

At that moment, Hanna and David came crashing into the kitchen, where Kathy loaded them each up with a plate of food to carry. Everyone else grabbed something as well, even Elizabeth, who insisted on helping, and they all moved into the dining room to eat.

Conversation at lunch was light. Once Kathy realized John hadn't bothered to properly introduce her children to Elizabeth, she remedied the situation, and Elizabeth delighted both children when she told them things about themselves, things she'd gleaned from what John had shared of Kathy's letters.

Elizabeth learned that Kathy had her degree in microbiology and worked for a small pharmaceutical company, while Eric worked in computers. Kathy asked a few questions about what she and John did, and Elizabeth told her that she headed up an international research group. She could tell that Kathy wanted to know more, especially about why the group required the presence of military personnel like John. Eric was quieter on the subject, and when Elizabeth learned that his father had been military, she realized that he probably had a better understanding of classified projects than his wife did.

After lunch, the kids immediately latched onto John, reminding him of his promise to play aliens with them. He shot an apologetic look over his shoulder at Elizabeth as they dragged him off, leaving her alone with his sister while Eric started washing the dishes in the kitchen.

"Is there something I can do to help?" Elizabeth asked as she brought in the last plate from the table.

Eric shook his head, as Kathy replied, "No. My husband is a sick, sick man who actually enjoys washing dishes. Why don't you join me for some coffee on the back porch and we can watch the kids torture my brother while we talk?"

Elizabeth had issued enough orders phrased like questions to recognize one when she heard it, and she sighed, accepting that it was her fate to be questioned by John's sister.

"So," Kathy said once they were comfortably seated on two cushioned lawn chairs. "John hasn't said, exactly, but I get the feeling your project takes you pretty far from home."

"Yes, it does," Elizabeth replied, thinking of the inconceivable number of light years that separated them from Atlantis.

"It must have been difficult to leave behind all your friends, family, boyfriend..." Kathy trailed off.

Elizabeth had to grin. Kathy clearly had only a passing acquaintance with subtlety. "It was," she said, knowing her response would only pique Kathy's curiosity.

Kathy's narrowed eyes suggested that she knew Elizabeth was deliberately teasing her. She turned her attention out to the yard for a moment, watching John enact a horribly exaggerated death scene as her children "killed" the "alien."

"All right," she said, smiling in defeat. "I'll just come right out and say it. I want to know how things are between you and John. What you are to each other. Because from the way he talks about you in his letters, I can't figure it out. And maybe I'm being nosy, but I've missed twenty years of big sisterly bugging, so I figure I've got a lot to catch up on."

What she and John were to each other? How could Elizabeth answer that question when she wasn't sure herself?

She took a moment to think about her answer before replying, "He's my right hand."

Kathy took a sip from the mug cradled in her hands. "Do you mean that professionally or personally?"

Settling back in her chair, Elizabeth raised her own mug to her lips. "Both, I suppose." She wasn't entirely comfortable with the personal nature of these questions, especially since she'd only met the woman a few hours before. But Elizabeth knew that Kathy wasn't simply prying. All joking about sisterly bugging aside, the other woman was trying to get to know her brother after twenty years of silence, and Elizabeth knew just how unforthcoming John could be.

Kathy seemed to accept her response, but Elizabeth could tell she wanted to ask more. Balancing her coffee mug on her knee, John's sister glanced back out into the yard where her children were playing with their uncle. She licked her lips in a move so reminiscent of John that Elizabeth had to smile. "Is he... does he... I want to know if he's happy, Elizabeth. I don't know what, if anything, he's told you about our past, our mother..."

"He's told me some. About her death, if that's what you're asking."

Kathy nodded. "After she died, he changed. He used to be so outgoing and open and funny. And he still seems to be, but I feel like he's holding part of himself back from me. He talks about her a little, and about our father, but I don't feel like he's really sharing everything."

Elizabeth put down her coffee and leaned forward, elbows on knees, looking directly at Kathy. "I think he's working towards happy, Kathy." She hoped he was, and that all the times they'd spent drinking coffee on the balcony or talking as they walked around the city, he'd really enjoyed himself and hadn't been showing her another façade.

Staring blindly at the railing of the back porch, Elizabeth let her thoughts drift back to the first time the Wraith had truly threatened Atlantis. "Some time ago, we were put into a dangerous situation, and in the middle of it we had our first chance to contact home. I asked John if he wanted to send a message, and he had the most haunted look in his eyes when he told me no. He was my closest friend for nearly two years before he told me anything about his family. He's opened up so much just in the time he's been writing to you. I don't see that look anymore."

"I was surprised when he sent me that letter," Kathy said. "I didn't know he knew where I was. I suppose it's a good thing I kept my maiden name, or he might not have been able to find me. I'm glad he did, though."

"I am, too," Elizabeth said. "When we were in that dangerous situation, we lost one of our people, a young man. I can't help but think that it was telling this man's family about him that somehow spurred John to contact you. And I'm very grateful that you wrote him back. Your letters have done him a world of good."

"So have you," Kathy said, quirking an eyebrow. "He really admires you, you know. I can tell that much from his letters. Whether he's angry with you or telling jokes when he writes, he really does admire you underneath it all."

Elizabeth felt herself blushing, and couldn't help but smile over at John and the kids. He looked up from where he was swinging a laughing Hanna around in a circle and grinned at her when he caught her eye. He gave Hanna one final swing and plunked her on her feet, jogging across the grass to Elizabeth and Kathy.

"Hey, 'Lizabeth, guess what Hanna told me!" he said excitedly.

"What?" she asked, caught by the happiness in his eyes.

"Apparently there's this great ice cream place a few blocks over, and they have..." he trailed off, obviously enjoying prolonging the suspense.

Elizabeth refused to give him the satisfaction, instead just looking at him calmly and waiting for him to finish.

His face fell slightly, but he was soon grinning again. "Extreme Moose Tracks! If I remember, you said that's your favorite."

It was, and Elizabeth was both amazed and pleased that he'd remembered. She shouldn't have been, she realized. Hadn't she already known that John had a tendency to be surprisingly sweet when she least expected it? Her mind drifted to the birthday jar that still sat in her office on Atlantis.

"Well, I'll have to get directions there and stop in on my way to the hotel. I won't have time to drive back down to Colorado tonight."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "I was thinking we could maybe go there now. If Hanna and David are allowed to have ice cream right now..." he glanced over at Kathy, a question in his voice.

She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "I guess I can make an exception, since it is kind of a special occasion," she said. "And, Elizabeth, you certainly don't have to stay in a hotel. Hanna can sleep on the trundle in David's room, and you can have her room, if you don't mind unicorns and baseball stuff."

Elizabeth was startled – she hadn't been surprised that Kathy wanted John to stay at the house, but she wasn't family. "Oh no, I couldn't put you out."

Kathy waved her hand, making a "pssh" sound. "Please. Anyway, if you don't stay, the guys will outnumber the girls, and we can't have that." She turned to John. "How long can you stay for, anyway?"

In turn, John looked at Elizabeth, who answered for him. "Colonel Caldwell said it would be another three or four days until they finished inspecting our, uh, transport, and then we'd have another day to get everything loaded up. He's supposed to call me when you need to head back."

"Perfect," Kathy said. "You can both stay here until he calls." Seeing that Elizabeth was about to protest, she held up a finger. "No arguments."

She stood and gathered up her mug and Elizabeth's. "John, I'm going to go get Eric. Would you get the kids inside? Elizabeth, you might have to move your car out of the driveway. You can park it behind John's on the street. If we're all going, we'll have to take the minivan."

Before she turned to follow Kathy inside, Elizabeth thought she saw John blanch and mouth the word "minivan," his pilot attitude clearly threatened by this symbol of suburban life. She couldn't help but laugh as she stepped through the door.

Behind her John called out, "Guys! Ice cream!" and the sound of children's excited shrieks followed her into the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: My thanks, as always, to Sally for the beta and 'cause, well, she's just cool. Feedback's always appreciated. :) 

Disclaimer etc. in the first chapter.

* * *

When they all got back to the Sheppard-Mayrand home, Elizabeth was too tired to do anything but drop onto the couch. It had been a long time since she'd eaten that much. 

Although it had started out just as a trip for ice cream, almost as soon as everyone was in the car the kids had begged Kathy to take them by their school so they could show it to Uncle John. This led to seeing their favorite park, their best friends' houses, and somehow by the time they were ready for ice cream it was time for dinner.

David had pleaded to go to some crazy Jewish deli with a carousel in the parking lot and wind up toys along all the walls and ceilings, even inside the tabletops, covered with glass. The portions were huge, and such a nice change from what she ate on Atlantis or at the SGC that Elizabeth had devoured hers. She was almost too full for ice cream, but neither Hanna nor John would hear of her turning it down, so she'd topped her big meal with a gigantic bowl of Extreme Moose Tracks.

Eric had expressed some concerns about feeding the children so much sugar just before bed on a school night, but Kathy had taken the "extra long" way home so both David and Hanna were drowsy by the time she pulled into the driveway. Each parent took a child and carried them upstairs to brush their teeth, while Elizabeth and John waited in the living room.

Leaning back against the cushions, Elizabeth rested a hand on her belly. Beside her, John sprawled bonelessly against some pillows. She rolled her head along the back of the couch to look at him.

"Do you ever sit properly?"

He smiled lazily at her. "Only when it's an important meeting with a superior or I'm trying to make a good impression."

Elizabeth made a face at him. "John, I can count on one hand the number of times you've actually sat up straight, or even in a chair, in my office."

"So?"

"You're saying you don't want to make a good impression when we have a meeting?"

"I'm saying I don't feel like I'm on trial and have to be on my best behavior when we have a meeting," he responded.

"Oh."

Silence fell between them then, comfortable at first but soon stretching into awkwardness. From the floor above them they could hear the murmur of voices as Eric and Kathy got the kids tucked in, and just when Elizabeth was about to say something, anything, probably something stupid, she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Elizabeth," Kathy was saying as she came into view. "I've changed the sheets in Hanna's room and put out towels for you in the bathroom."

Elizabeth sat up straighter, clasping her hands in front of her and ignoring her stomach's protest at the movement. "Thank you, Kathy. I really appreciate you putting me up like this."

"It's no big deal. I'm sorry to do this, but I have to get some work done before I head into the office tomorrow morning so I'm going to have to leave you to your own devices." Kathy gave them both an apologetic smile before turning to head to the master bedroom.

"Don't apologize!" Elizabeth said. "We descended on you unannounced; we can't expect you not to be busy."

Eric spoke up. "I've got a program I need to do some work on as well." He gestured down the hall in the direction of the office. "If you need anything, though, just let me know. John, the remotes for the TV are in the side pocket of the recliner."

"Thanks, Eric," John said, although he made no move to get them.

Once both the other adults had left to their respective projects, John finally pulled himself upright on the couch. He turned so he was leaning against one arm and could more directly face Elizabeth.

"So, what did Kathy talk to you about today on the porch?"

* * *

Elizabeth had a good poker face, John reflected, but he had known her long enough that he could read her eyes. He saw her briefly consider her earlier conversation and make a decision to tell him part of it, but not all. That was okay. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know everything his sister might have said, although it did leave him with a little worry about what childhood tales she might have been storing up over the past twenty years.

"She was concerned, John," Elizabeth said at last. "However long it's been, she's still your family, and she just wanted to make sure you were well."

That was it? He was surprised. "She didn't say anything else?"

Elizabeth's lips quirked upward slightly, and John got a feeling she knew what he was asking. "Like what?"

John fidgeted uncomfortably and licked his lips. "Nothing. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Uh, earlier, before you came up here, I think I might have accidentally given her the impression..." He looked around the room, desperate for a distraction, but none presented itself. Elizabeth was no help either, watching him struggle for words with a slight smile that said she wasn't going to smooth this conversation over for him.

"I, uh, accidentally might have made her think we were... involved. She, uh, didn't say anything about that?"

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and was silent for a moment. John idly pulled at the cuffs of his sleeves. When she finally spoke, it wasn't to answer his question. "Accidentally?"

"It was slip of the tongue!" he protested. "Because we aren't." He paused for a moment, tilting his head to one side and looking at her. "Are we?"

Elizabeth drew her legs up onto the couch cushions and angled her body to face him more directly. "She asked me what we are to each other. And I wasn't sure what to say. Because I'll admit to being confused. All those coffee breaks, the walks, the time we spend together back on Atl – in the city," she corrected herself, remembering that although they were alone in the room there were four other people in the house, none of whom had clearance.

As she spoke, John realized she was right. In any other situation, he might say they were dating, that they were "involved." But their situation wasn't like any other. They spent most of their days in another galaxy, worrying about the possibility of an alien attack and technology they couldn't understand instead of the price of gas and whether there was milk in the fridge. Hell, he hadn't even kissed her since that "celebratory" kiss after he received Kathy's first letter. Not that he hadn't wanted to, because eating lunch with her, watching her drink coffee, he'd paid enough attention to her lips to wonder about it.

Well, he'd always believed actions spoke louder than words, so he leaned forward on the couch, eyes on hers, slowly enough the she could tell him to stop if she wanted to. He slipped a hand behind her neck and her eyes fell closed and her lips parted slightly and then his lips slid over hers and they were kissing and all John could think was "_At last_" and –

"Hey, Johnny, I – whoops!" Kathy's voice startled them both, and they separated abruptly and awkwardly to turn and look at her over the back of the couch.

"I, um, I just wanted to tell you that Eric and I will probably turn in soon because I have to be up at five and I was going to leave you a set of spare house keys on the kitchen counter in case we're gone when you get up, and I'll just be leaving now."

She started back into her bedroom, then turned and shot Elizabeth a smile. "Right hand, huh?"

Elizabeth blushed slightly while John looked at her in confusion. Then she lifted her eyes to his and they locked gazes for a moment before John spoke.

"So, I guess we _are_ involved then?" Elizabeth's smile was answer enough.

* * *

John wasn't surprised when he came into the kitchen the next morning to find Elizabeth fully dressed, standing at the counter and drinking coffee while she read the newspaper. He was still wearing pajamas pants and a t-shirt, figuring that even though it had been twenty years, Kathy was still his sister and he was too lazy to get dressed before he'd had some coffee. It had not been a restful night; he'd kept replaying their interrupted kiss in his mind, only this time Kathy didn't intrude and the kiss led to other, even more, interesting activities.

"Morning," Elizabeth said quietly, turning a page of the paper. It was the national news section, John noticed as he grunted a reply, and he wondered briefly how many of the big name people mentioned in the articles she had known in person.

He ran a hand through his hair and caught Elizabeth watching him, smiling fondly. Yes, he knew women seemed to find his perpetually messy hair endearing, but did they really have to always stare at it with that look that made him feel about six years old? Not what he wanted to feel, especially given the kinds of dreams he'd had last night. Realizing that he was being grumpy, even in his own head, he hastily reached for the coffee pot and poured himself a mug. He could function perfectly well in the early mornings and on much less sleep than he'd had, thanks to his training, but that didn't mean he was pleasant to be around before his first cup of coffee.

"Kathy and Eric leave?" he asked after the first gulp helped restore a little of his humanity.

"Yes, and the kids are off to school as well."

He grunted an acknowledgement and downed the rest of his coffee. Putting his mug in the sink, he looked around at the kitchen, at a loss for where breakfast food was. Upon seeing his confusion, Elizabeth folded the newspaper over so she could hold it in one hand and still read it, and without looking opened a cabinet for the bowls, another for the cereal, and a drawer for a spoon. John mumbled a thank you and fixed himself some breakfast, finding a full carton of milk in the fridge.

Without consulting each other, they both moved into the dining room. Elizabeth took one seat along the side of the table, eyes still on the paper, and John pulled out a chair opposite her. They sat in companionable silence, her reading and him eating, until he finished and told her he was going to head upstairs to shower and dress.

When he came back down twenty minutes later, John found Elizabeth drying their breakfast dishes. She was humming under her breath and looking out the kitchen window, and John felt an almost irresistible urge to come up behind her and slip his arms around her waist. He took half a step forward, but Elizabeth heard him and turned to face him as she placed the last bowl on the counter.

"You look a bit more presentable now," she said with a smile.

He grinned back at her. "I feel it. Did Kathy say what time everyone would be home tonight?"

"She said she'd be back around 4, in time to meet David and Hanna's bus, and that we should plan on dinner around 7. We're having one of Eric's specialties, apparently."

"Any thoughts on what you want to do today?" he asked as she folded the towel and hung it on the oven door.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Not really. I do want to pick up a calling card someplace, though, so I can get in touch with my brother."

John nodded slightly, masking the flash of guilt he felt at her words. Here she was spending her free time on Earth with him to ease his way back into his family, and she wasn't even going to be able to see her own parents.

She saw through the mask, anyway. She always did. "I want to be here, John. I wouldn't have been able to see my parents even if I hadn't come up here for you. They're traveling abroad right now."

It didn't ease his guilt much, but he accepted her answer anyway, for her sake. "So, we'll go find a drug store or something and figure things out then?"

"Sounds good," she said.

* * *

They wound up driving in circles through suburban neighborhoods for a while before they found their way back out to a main road. Once there, John stopped at a gas station with a mini mart. As Elizabeth picked up a phone card and a couple of news magazines, John perused the aisles of food.

When she was done checking out, Elizabeth turned to get John and found him standing directly behind her with armloads of food. "Hungry?" she asked.

"I've decided what we're going to do," he answered, dumping everything on the counter in front of the clerk. "We're going to have a picnic! Full of good old American junk food."

She pulled one bag from the pile. "Cheetos?"

"They're good!" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Well, they are. And I've missed them, so we're going to get them." He gestured to the back of the store. "Why don't you go get a couple of hotdogs and decorate them for us, and pick out a couple of drinks, too."

Elizabeth shook her head at him, but did as he suggested. She could hear John asking the clerk where the nearest park was as she loaded up one hotdog with mustard, relish, and onions, just the way he'd said he liked them. She put just a touch of mustard and relish on her own, grabbed a couple of bottles of soda from the case on the wall, and returned to the counter.

They took two wrong turns getting to the park, but since it took them by a beautiful old town hall, Elizabeth didn't mind. "Tom would love this," she said, gazing out the window.

"Your brother? The architect, right?" John asked and she smiled, pleased he remembered.

They found the park at last and set up on a bench near some playground equipment. As they ate their junk food, complete with Cookies 'N' Cream Hershey bars he'd picked up for her chocolate addiction (she didn't have the heart to tell him she preferred European chocolate), they watched a group of children too young to be in school play on the bars and tires and slides.

"Do you ever think about kids?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyes widened and she pressed her lips together – she hadn't meant to ask that.

John was quiet for a moment, and Elizabeth wondered if he was going to respond. "Sometimes. I mean, maybe someday. With the right person, I guess," he said, eyes studiously looking anywhere but at her.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the rustle of a bag as John finished off the last of the Cheetos. He licked orange powder from his fingers – a move Elizabeth found incredibly distracting – and picked up the bag, holding it out to her like a trophy.

"Do you think anyone would notice if I snuck some of these into my pack?"

Startled, Elizabeth let out a peal of laughter. She risked a look at his face, and the wounded puppy dog expression made her laugh even more.

* * *

They got home shortly after six, having stopped in a book store for Elizabeth, and later at what Elizabeth called a "gadget store" for John, before finding their way back to the park to enjoy just walking under Earth's sky, on Earth's grass, with Earth's wind in their faces.

Dinner was, as promised, spectacularly delicious, although the meal was rather tense. David was in trouble for yelling at Kathy when she told him to do his homework, and Hanna was playing up being the "good" child by being exquisitely polite. When the food was gone and the table cleared, both kids were trotted upstairs to finish homework and go to bed.

"Kathy?" Elizabeth said as the other woman came back downstairs. "Would it be all right if I used a calling card and made a call on your phone?"

"Of course," came the reply. "You can use the phone in the office if you like; you can shut the door there for more privacy."

"Isn't it kind of late to be calling your brother?" John asked, knowing that Tom lived somewhere east of them.

"There's only a two hour difference," she said. "And Tom likes to stay up late."

As Elizabeth walked down the hall to the office, Kathy came fully into the living room, a box in her hands. "John? I found those pictures of Mom I was telling you about, if you want to look at them."

John looked up at her from his seat on the couch, and swallowed. "Okay," he said, hoping his uncertainty didn't show in his voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: HUGE thanks again to my beta, Sally. Also a big thanks to Melyanna, for cacthing a discontinuity in the last chapter and alerting me to it.

Only one more chapter to go after this, but it's kind of a long one!

Disclaimer etc. in first chapter.

* * *

John held the two photographs side-by-side, amazed. 

"Scary, isn't it?" Kathy said from her seat on the floor by his feet. "And I didn't even realize when I dressed Hanna like that, that Dad had these pictures."

"So the dress and pigtails are just a coincidence," he said, looking at the pictures. "She looks so happy," he mused.

Kathy took the picture of their mother from his hands, knowing that he wasn't referring to his niece. "She does."

John sank back into the cushions a bit, a haunted expression on his face, and for a moment Kathy could see her little brother there, five years old and desperately in need of reassurance after their mother went to the hospital. He clenched his left fist – the one not holding the picture of her daughter, fortunately – and Kathy imagined that had he been alone he might have hit something.

"How did she get there, Kathy?" he asked quietly. "How did she get from this carefree little girl to a woman who didn't want to live?" He wasn't looking at the picture she held anymore, but had turned his eyes to the photograph of Hanna.

Kathy sighed. "I don't know, John. There aren't any answers here." She looked down at the picture in her hands, and then back at John.

His eyes were still glued to the photo of Hanna. "I used to wonder if it runs in the family. If some people were predisposed to suicide."

"Johnny..." Kathy put her hand on his knee and took the picture from his limp fingers.

"I know I'm not... _we're_ not, genetically predisposed to suicide, Kath. That it_ doesn't_ run in the family." But he sounded as if he didn't entirely believe it.

"John, you're not going to wake up one day and kill yourself," she said, hoping it was what he wanted to hear.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You know what we do can be dangerous sometimes, right?"

She nodded, unsure of where this was heading.

"We got into a bad situation about a year after we left. Really bad. It came down to the wire and there was really only one way to save everyone."

He took a deep breath. "I didn't even think about it, Kathy. I was out there, flying toward my death in an instant, never even questioning it. I'm only alive today because of a miracle of timing."

Kathy sucked in a breath, trying to keep her expression under control. Yes, she'd gleaned that their work could be dangerous, but somehow that was different from hearing her little brother talk about flying to his death.

"Did you want to die?" she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer if it was positive.

"I had to. I chose to."

"But did you _want_ to?"

He looked her in the eye then, only for a moment, before shooting a glance down the hall at the closed door of the office. "No."

"She means a lot to you." It wasn't a question and John didn't treat it as such.

"I thought we meant a lot to Mom."

"Johnny." Once she was sure of his attention, Kathy raised herself onto her knees and stared at him intently. "You aren't Mom. I'm not Mom. Hanna's not Mom. You can't let what happened in the past keep you from having a future. A family."

Something flashed in his eyes then – she wasn't sure what. Hatred for all that she'd built? Rage that she'd moved on and he hadn't? Whatever it was, it was gone as quickly as it came.

He licked his lips and looked around the room, clearly wanting to move on to something else. When he finally spoke, it was with forced levity. "So, David really believes in aliens, huh?"

As subject changes went, it was less than graceful, but Kathy decided to let him get away with it. That didn't mean he was entirely off the hook, though, she thought, not answering his question. "So, you and Elizabeth going to keep making out in my living room? Because I do have kids, you know." She smiled as she said it.

She heard a strangled noise and looked up to see that Elizabeth had left the office just in time to here her latest remark. Well, that was timing, Kathy thought. She stood and smiled at them both, enjoying the slightly panicked looks they both wore. Deciding that her job as meddling sister was done for the time being, hoping that she'd done Johnny at least a little good, she gave them a little finger wave and left in search of Eric.

* * *

Elizabeth stood still behind the couch, torn between amusement and indignation. Kathy was very good at deliberately provoking them, but, really! They hadn't been making out! It was just one little kiss!

"Just a little kiss?" John's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she realized she'd said the last bit aloud.

Looking at him, she could see the strain of his conversation with Kathy. Realizing that he wasn't ready to talk to her about it yet, she kept her voice light and flirty. "Well, we were both still fully dressed."

And she was immediately bombarded with thoughts of them in stages of slightly less than fully dressed.

Well, that had done the trick, she thought as he stood up and she saw him leave behind all thoughts of Kathy and the past and focus on her. He gave Elizabeth a genuine smile. "I can't believe my sister caught me kissing on the couch. I feel like I'm in high school, sneaking around."

From his expression he didn't seem to think this was such a bad thing. His gaze was locked on her lips, and unconsciously she licked them, watching as his eyes followed the movement of her tongue.

"Is that what we're doing?" she asked, her voice a little husky. She knew she was treading dangerous waters, but she couldn't help it. "Sneaking around and making out in dark corners?" Not that she'd really done that in high school. Unless you counted those few times with Bobby Parrish, which had actually been kind of fun, now that she remembered it, except she was picturing John instead of Bobby...

John's eyes darkened, and he asked, "Do you want to?" and before she'd given it any conscious thought she was standing in front of him, threading her fingers into his hair and pulling his mouth down to hers.

At first she sensed desperation when he kissed her back, as if he were trying to drive away every bad thing that had ever happened to him. It only lasted a moment, though, and then he gave a little groan and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush against his.

Crazy, she thought. This was crazy, coming out of nowhere like this ("Nowhere?" a little voice asked, reminding her of the months of looking and wondering while they'd both been on Atlantis). They shouldn't be doing this, not in his sister's house, and she decided that she'd give them just a few seconds more and then they had to stop. And then John took two steps backward and hit the edge of the couch, sitting down hard and bringing her down on top of him, and her shirt rode up a little in the back and she felt his hand on her bare flesh, sliding upward, and coherent thought was lost again for a little while.

It took them a few moments and increasingly loud "Eww!" sounds for them to realize they had an audience. Raising her head and removing her hand from where it had somehow found its way under John's shirt, Elizabeth took a moment to focus on David, standing at the foot of the stairs with a disgusted expression on his face.

"You guys are gross," he declared with great weight.

"David," John said, untangling himself from Elizabeth and sitting up. "What are you doing up?"

Elizabeth leaned back against the cushions, bringing a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes momentarily in embarrassment. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten herself like that, forgotten where they were, that there were kids in the house. She'd always prided herself on her being self-possessed in public, and while this _was_ a private home, it wasn't _her_ home.

Those months of waiting and wondering had really taken a toll.

"I couldn't sleep and I wanted some milk," David answered his uncle. He shook his head at them. "I can't believe you were kissing her," he said, and then left for the kitchen with great dignity.

"Give it a few years," John muttered under his breath, and Elizabeth bit her lip to stifle a giggle, her sense of humor taking over her embarrassment.

"You know," she began as she ran her hands through her hair, wondering if she looked as mussed as she felt, "Kathy has a point. We really shouldn't be doing this in her living room, not with her kids around."

"Want to take it upstairs?" John asked mischievously, but the look in his eyes was serious and Elizabeth felt both a little thrill at the words, and a little worry that they were taking things too fast, but then she remembered the feel of his lips on hers, his hands on her skin and she decided she didn't really care how fast they were taking it just right now.

Before she could say anything, however, they heard David shut the refrigerator and he came back into the room, milk in hand and disgusted expression still in place.

He paused on the stairs to look back at them. "Gross," he said with a shudder before going back to his room.

Elizabeth couldn't help giving into laughter this time.

* * *

The next morning, John beat Elizabeth downstairs, but Kathy had already left. Eric was busy shooing David and Hanna out the door before they missed the bus. He mumbled a hasty good morning to John and said he had to work at home this morning, so he'd be in the office if they needed him.

John had just gotten a mug out for coffee when Eric stuck his head back into the kitchen. "Forgot to tell you, Kathy left a note for you by the stove."

Sipping his coffee, John picked up the note.

_Johnny, when I asked if you were going to make out in the living room, I didn't mean for it to be an invitation! David told me you and Elizabeth were being "icky."_ She'd drawn a smiley face next to "icky" and John grinned.

He continued reading. _Take the woman out on a date and go neck at the movies or something, like you're supposed to!_ Paper clipped to the note, he found the movie section of the paper listing shows he'd never heard of.

"Is there more coffee?"

Looking up he saw Elizabeth standing in the doorway. He nodded to the counter where the coffeepot was still mostly full, and stepped aside so she could reach it.

"My sister wants us to go neck at the movies," he said conversationally, holding up the note.

Elizabeth's hand froze on the handle of the pot and she turned an incredulous look on him. He smirked back at her. After a moment, she grinned. "Well, I'd hate to disappoint her. What's showing?"

Neither of them had any idea what the current movies were about, and they didn't want to interrupt Eric to ask, so they picked one with an interesting title and decided to catch a matinee. Elizabeth wanted them to be back in time to help out with dinner that night, because "the least we can do for them putting us up is pull our own weight."

To pass the time after breakfast, John grabbed a pad of paper and settled himself at the dining room table to give some thought to new duty rosters for when they got back to Atlantis. Elizabeth sat across from him with her laptop and a translation she'd been meaning to work on.

They managed to work quietly for almost an hour before John felt something slide along his leg, something that felt decidedly like Elizabeth's foot. He glanced up quickly, but she was staring down at her computer in concentration.

He looked back at his own paper. The notepad was covered with only a few scribbles, although several sheets that had been folded into paper airplanes were at his elbow. Maybe he'd imagined it. But no, there it was again. Casting a suspicious look in her direction, he saw that although she was studiously bent over her computer, her hands were nowhere near the keys, and her eyes weren't moving.

John bit back a smile, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Elizabeth – Dr. Elizabeth Weir, leader of Atlantis and diplomat extraordinaire – was playing footsy with him while his brother-in-law was working right down the hall.

Well, turnabout was fair play, and so John reached his own leg over to bump hers.

They continued like this in silence for a few minutes, both of them pretending to work and neither of them succeeding. Then Elizabeth's foot slid high onto his thigh and he made a little noise that was definitely _not_ a squeak, no matter how much it sounded like it, and Elizabeth looked up.

"John?" He blinked at her for a moment, noticing that her own pupils were slightly dilated, and she dropped her foot. It allowed him to clear his mind enough to reply, "Yeah?"

"What's the earliest showing?" Her voice was a little more breathless than usual.

"Of the movie?" He wasn't quite up to full thoughts yet.

"Of any movie that won't have kids in the audience," she answered, and he bolted from his chair to grab the paper.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: This is the last chapter! At something over 16000 words, this is the longest story I've yet written. :) At present, I have no plans for a sequel, because I have to deal with these other plot bunnies that are threatening to overrun my house (and no, that doesn't necessarily mean more fic soon).

Thank you all for reading this and sticking with it, especially given the length of time between chapters one and two! I loved getting all the reviews - there's such a thrill in opening your email and finding a notification from :) Hope you've all enjoyed the ride.

Without the wonderful help of Sally, this story would all be a bunch of crap. Go heap cookies on her.

Disclaimer etc. in first chatper.

* * *

"I can't believe you got us thrown out."

"Me?" John's voice was incredulous. "You were the one who wouldn't keep her voice down."

Elizabeth shot him a dirty look as they walked up the driveway to the front door of Kathy and Eric's house. "In my entire life, I'd never been thrown out of a theater before. Can you say the same?"

"No." He didn't sound the least bit embarrassed. "But that still doesn't make it my fault."

The movie they'd wound up seeing – well, going to, since they didn't really see any of it – had turned out to be nearly three hours long. The theater had been relatively empty, and when they sat down in the back row they were several rows away from the next nearest person. It had taken some time for John to coax her out of her embarrassment, because really, she was a grown woman and much too old to be acting like this and hadn't even as a teenager. Once he did, however, Elizabeth had found out that necking at the movies was actually kind of fun.

They made it through all but the last twenty minutes of the movie before an usher asked them to leave because they were "disturbing the other patrons." From the irritated expression on his face, Elizabeth got the feeling that he'd had to try for their attention several times.

"Now we'll never know if what's-her-name and whosy got together at the end," she protested, although her heart wasn't in it.

"It was an action movie, not a romance, 'Lizabeth," John replied, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Was it?" She grinned at him. "I don't remember."

They'd followed the movie with a long lunch, during which they actually spent a good deal more time arguing politics than playing footsy. John didn't have the breadth of knowledge she did when it came to the world of international politics, but she did appreciate hearing his perspective and he'd even given her some reasons to rethink a few of her positions.

Elizabeth had insisted on finding a wine shop before they headed back to the house, wanting to give Kathy and Eric some kind of host gift.

John was reaching for the front door of the house, key in hand, when it was flung open from the inside. Hanna stood on the threshold, eyeing Elizabeth.

"Do you know how to braid hair?" she demanded. "I want a princess braid to go with my dress." Said dress was pink and frilly and combined with dirty, untied sneakers.

Startled, Elizabeth glanced at John, who shrugged. "Um, no. Sorry."

Hanna sighed and whirled to march back into the house, leaving an amused John and Elizabeth on the doorstep.

They walked inside just in time to hear Kathy telling David, "You will sit at this table until you've finished the assignment. And I don't want to hear any more about it. You're in enough trouble as it is, mister, for not doing this last night before it was due."

"Uh oh," John said.

Kathy heard him and came out to greet them. "Hi, you two. How was the movie? What did you see?"

Elizabeth and John looked at each other blankly for a moment, and Kathy laughed.

"This is stupid!" David yelled angrily from the other room. "Who cares about the stupid Constitution! Stupid Social Studies is the stupidest class ever."

Elizabeth winced in sympathy as Kathy raised a hand to her eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "Here," she said, holding out the bottle of wine. "This is a thank you for letting me" – John elbowed her none too gently – "_us_ stay here. Why don't you take it and I'll see if I can help David some?"

"You don't mind?" The relief in Kathy's voice was palpable. "This has always been his least favorite subject, and for some reason with this section it's even worse. He's even stopped doing his homework."

"Not at all," Elizabeth said, smiling. Kathy turned to John, clearly wondering if he was going to go help as well.

"Don't look at me." He raised his hands defensively. "She's the smart one, especially when it comes to political type stuff."

Elizabeth scoffed as she turned to the dining room. "Yes, and you're so stupid, Mr. I-Could-Have-Been-Mensa."

As she left the room, she heard Kathy ask, "Mensa?"

* * *

"Is there anything I can help you with?" John asked Kathy as he followed her into the living room.

"I'm just doing some long overdue cleaning, so unless you want to dust..."

John grimaced, and she laughed. "If you want, I do have some bags of yard stuff outside Eric was supposed to load in the van to take to the county compost. You can move those if it's manlier than dusting."

He resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at her teasing, and went outside to get the bags. Loading the van didn't take him very long. When he came inside, Kathy was had moved on to vacuuming. Elizabeth and David were still working on homework and he had no idea where Hanna was, so without anyone to talk to he headed up to his room.

It was almost a relief to be sitting by himself in his room, even if he could hear noises from everyone else through his open door. He'd enjoyed the last few days, he really had, but he wasn't used to spending this much time doing nothing. On top of that, he felt like he was under constant scrutiny by everyone. Kathy and Eric were trying to get to know him, sure, but it sometimes felt like Kathy was trying to cram all twenty years of missed time into just a few days. John wasn't comfortable with that amount of sharing. He would rather take it slow; as much as he'd enjoyed seeing his sister, he almost wished they'd had time to exchange more letters before spending all this time with her.

David and Hanna wanted to get to know him too, although they didn't care about making sure he was handling the past well. His niece and nephew were a lot of fun and John liked playing with them – he made a mental note to visit the mainland and play with the Athosian kids more often once they got back – but he sometimes felt a little bit like they were putting him on trial, making sure he would be a good uncle.

Oddly, John found Elizabeth both the hardest and the easiest to deal with. He found it strange that he could see her every day in the city, spent countless hours with her both in meetings and out of the office, and yet he was having a hard time when she was staying just down the hall from him and they had no life-threatening crisis to deal with.

It was because she watched him, he realized. She didn't ask him many questions about how he was doing or what he was feeling, because she didn't have to. He got the idea that whenever she looked at him she knew everything – his thoughts, his feelings – and that she could know him so well scared him a little.

On the other hand, he loved spending some time with her doing normal, couple-y things. She didn't try to talk to him about his mother or his family, the way Kathy did, because she knew he needed her more as a distraction than a compassionate ear right now. He'd talk to her in his own time. He always did.

Against his will he found himself wondering if, now that he was involved with Elizabeth, he'd be so willing to go on another suicide mission to save the city. As he thought about it, he realized he would still go, because he believed it was the right thing to do. But it wouldn't be easy now, not like it had been back then, back when he had lived life on crisis to another, with no real dreams or hopes for the future.

John shook his head to clear his thoughts, not wanting to dwell. Instead he looked around the room for some sort of distraction, but he didn't even have any clothes to fold and put away. His room on Atlantis was never this neat, but years of military life had ingrained in him the habit of keeping everything ready when he was away from home in case he had to leave at a moment's notice.

One corner of the bedspread had flipped up and he busied himself with fixing it before looking for another distraction.

"Wanna play princess with me?"

Looking up, John saw his niece in the doorway, still in her princess dress and sneakers, but now sporting a plastic wiffle ball bat and funky knots of hair all over her head. She looked more like an extra from a post-apocalyptic movie than a princess.

"Nice hair," he said.

She tugged on one knot. "I couldn't make a princess braid but princesses always wear their hair up," she said with gravity.

"I see." He nodded. "What about the bat?"

The look Hanna gave him clearly indicated that he wasn't very smart. "It's so I can beat up any dragons who might try to kidnap me."

Well, at least he wasn't going to have to worry that she couldn't take care of herself. "How do I play princess?" he asked, mentally cringing.

"You hafta let me make you pretty first," she declared, producing a case of what looked like clown make-up from somewhere. "And then we make decisions about how to run the kingdom, and then we'll have a dinner party, and then we'll ride my pony to go beat up some bad guys. If David's done with his homework, he can be the bad guy." She said the last words with an evil little gleam in her eye.

"You have a pony?" Even as he said it John knew he didn't want the answer.

"I use the broom, but we only have one of them so you'll have to use the mop."

Yeah, he didn't like the answer. He tried to imagine what his fellow officers would say if they saw him riding a mop-pony, and winced.

She was staring at him expectantly, make-up case held out. Crap. John really didn't want to disappoint her, but there was no way in hell he was letting her put that stuff on his face, or riding a mop.

Hanna's gaze turned challenging, but John had stared down hungry Wraith, and no eight-year-old pixie was going to outstare him. Not even when she looked so adorably waifish. Not even when she stuck out that bottom lip and opened her eyes wide and her look changed from challenging to pleading...

"Hanna!" Kathy's voice drifted up the stairs.

Saved, John thought as his niece turned and stuck her head out the doorway, calling, "What?" He gave a little sigh of relief, knowing how close he'd come to giving in. If he ever had kids (and the thought was becoming more comfortable and tangible all the time) he was going to have to learn to build up some resistance.

"If you want me to help you with that art project, come on downstairs now. We've got a little time before dinner."

"Okay!" Hanna replied, giving John a look that said she knew exactly how relieved he was, before skipping out of the room and downstairs.

Oh yeah. Definitely needed more resistance.

* * *

Elizabeth had enjoyed helping David out with his Social Studies homework – it had been challenging in a new way. She was used to dealing with colleagues and students who had an intimate grasp of the nuances of law and politics; to try to explain things on a ten-year-old's level was actually somewhat exciting. She'd never want to try to teach it to a group of them, but in a one-on-one basis it was kind of fun.

The atmosphere at diner was much freer than it had been the night before, with both Hanna and David in good moods. Elizabeth had to stifle a laugh when Hanna came into the room in her princess dress, dragging a plastic bat, and cheerfully unaware of the bits of construction paper stuck in her hair from whatever project she'd been working on with Kathy. Eric made her leave the bat against the wall, simply rolling his eyes when she pouted at him.

Elizabeth noticed John watching the exchange with interest, and wondered what he was thinking. He saw her curiosity, and said, "I almost gave in to being a princess earlier," which left Elizabeth as confused as ever.

Since both kids had finished their homework before dinner, Eric allowed them to play a game on the computer in the office before bed. Kathy settled down in front of the TV to watch an episode of her favorite show, and she invited Elizabeth and John to join her.

"You won't like it. It's girly," Eric warned him as John settled into the recliner, and Kathy sent her husband a quelling look.

"Shut up. It's a good show."

It was a good show, Elizabeth conceded. She'd heard of it before leaving for Atlantis, but having never watched it she had a bit of a hard time keeping track of how all the characters related to each other. Still, the numerous pop culture, literary, and political allusions amused her and she was entranced by the rapid fire dialogue.

Unfortunately, Kathy was one of those people who insisted on talking in the middle of the show, so Elizabeth missed portions of dialogue when she got distracted by the other woman's voice.

They were about halfway through the show when Kathy turned to John. He had quickly become bored by the show and was idly fiddling with the few items on the end table.

"John?" Kathy's voice was quiet, but the concern in it pulled Elizabeth's attention away from the screen.

"Yeah?" He rotated the tissue box 90 degrees.

"About last night. I just wanted to make sure that everything's okay."

"It's fine." Elizabeth knew it wasn't, but she could tell from his tone of voice that he considered the topic closed. Kathy apparently thought otherwise.

"I mean, what you said about things running in the family..."

"It's _fine_," John said, cutting his sister off. Then he added. "Really, Kath. It's fine. I appreciate the concern, but I'm okay."

He looked over at Elizabeth then and when he caught her eye he smiled. She felt her own lips curve upward slightly in response.

Kathy shifted in her seat, drawing Elizabeth's attention. John's sister examined Elizabeth's face for a moment, then looked over at her brother. Whatever she saw there must have satisfied her, because she smiled at them both. "All right."

They all settled into a comfortable silence for a bit. The sudden ringing of a phone startled Elizabeth, and it took her a moment to realize that it was the cell phone she'd been given at the SGC.

John gave her a concerned look as she checked the caller ID, but she saw only the generic SGC outgoing number, so she shrugged and headed out of the room to answer the call.

* * *

Without Elizabeth's presence to distract him, John quickly became bored again. He fidgeted slightly, not wanting to be rude but not entirely sure he wanted to be alone with his sister right now.

He was half afraid she'd try to start talking to him about Mom again, but she didn't. He was glad for that; he hadn't meant to say everything he did the other night and all he really wanted was some time to think things over on his own.

Elizabeth, at least, understood that. She'd looked curious when Kathy started trying to talk about it tonight, but she'd kept quiet, knowing he needed to work things through on his own. And he was. Coming here, stressful as it was, had been a good idea.

"John?" Elizabeth walked back into the room.

"Problem?"

"That was General Landry. Some of the VIPs have decided they need to have one last meeting with us, so we're being asked to come back a little earlier than we thought. We'll have to leave tomorrow morning."

Hearing this, Kathy switched off the TV. "So soon? You can't ask for more leave?"

"I'm afraid not," Elizabeth said, and Kathy looked so disappointed that John got up and dropped onto the couch next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"We can still write to each other," he said. "And at least we got to get together for now." Truth be told, he was of two minds about leaving. It had been nice to see her and her family, but he missed life on Atlantis and the friends who had to stay behind when they went to Earth. Hell, he almost even missed the Wraith, if only because they were an enemy he was familiar with, not like these stupid fears he kept dragging up from the past.

"You better promise to write me every week," Kathy replied, and he held up two fingers together in a Boy Scout salute and promised.

Kathy sighed and stood up. "We'd better go tell Eric and the kids."

* * *

Elizabeth looked around Hanna's room, taking in all the colors that decorated it. It almost made her wish she could paint her rooms in Atlantis, but even if they could find the right colors, or even paint, she'd never have time to do it.

She'd only known them a few days, but she was going to miss John's family. The kids were fun, but she'd especially enjoyed spending time with Kathy. It was nice to talk to someone, another woman, who didn't view her as a superior or a leader. Talking to Kathy she'd felt like just plain Elizabeth.

Time to see if John was ready to go, she thought, stepping down the hall to his room.

He was already completely packed, looking out the window. "Taking in the view?"

Turning to her, he quirked his lips up in his trademark teasing grin. "Just appreciating standing before I'm stuck in a car for a ton of hours."

She gestured to his bag. "All ready? I think everyone's down in the kitchen, waiting to say goodbye."

"Yeah," he said. As he lifted the bag, the bed bounced a little. He pushed on it a little, a speculative look in his eye. "You know, we never did try out this bed."

If he'd expected to embarrass her, he was going to be disappointed, Elizabeth thought. John needed to know she could give as good as she got.

"Did I ever tell you about my rooms in the city?" He shook his head. "After the initial shuffle, I went in search of some good ones that had been cleared for safety. And I found one with a big bed." She waited for that to register, then added, "A _really_ big bed," and left.

She didn't have to look back to know that John was staring after her in awe.

* * *

"You'll come and see us again, right?" It was less a question than an order, and John rolled his eyes at his sister.

"If I can."

"_When_ you can," she said, and he agreed.

"When I can. And Kath, thanks. For everything."

She hugged him hard, then let go so she could hug Elizabeth while Eric shook his hand. "You're welcome anytime."

"Thanks."

David leaned against the doorframe, acting cool, although John could see a frown tugging slightly at his lips. "Are you going to go kill bad guys?"

"I'm going to go defend the good guys," John replied, drawing the boy in for a brief hug before offering him a manly slap on the back.

"Bye, Uncle John," he said before walking over to Elizabeth.

Hanna was presenting Elizabeth with a crayon drawing. "And there's me, and David, and the cat I want Mom to give me for my birthday, and over here are you and Uncle John!"

John could see that Elizabeth's eyes looked a little glassy as she thanked the girl. She tilted the picture so John could see, above a stick figure with curly brown hair, the words "Aunt Lizabeth."

"Subtle, Hanna," he said to his niece.

"Huh?" she said turning to him. Then she burst into tears. "I don't want you to leave!"

John looked around at the other adults, terrified. What was he supposed to do for a bawling little girl?

Elizabeth laughed a little at his expression, then opened her arms wide, parodying a hug. Oh.

"C'mere." He pulled Hanna in for a hug, rubbing her head in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Tell you what. I'll write you and David letters each week, too."

"Promise? And you promise not to die?"

Although they'd never specifically told the kids much about their jobs, obviously Hanna had realized that what John and Elizabeth did was somehow dangerous. "I promise," he said, hoping it was one he could keep.

Hanna looked up at him. "Good," she said firmly.

He and Elizabeth picked up their bags, heading to the cars they'd gotten at the SGC. Throwing them both in the trunk of one car, John leaned awkwardly against the door.

"Well, I guess this is it."

At his side, Elizabeth clasped her hands together. "Thank you again for having us. It was wonderful to finally meet you after hearing about you from John."

After another round of "byes" and "take cares," they got into their cars. As he left, John stuck his hand out the window to wave at the couple on the porch, at his family.

They were barely half a block from Kathy and Eric's house when John flipped open his cell phone and dialed.

"'Lizabeth," he said when she answered.

"John? Is everything all right?"

"I was just wondering..." He paused, trying to build the suspense.

"Yes?"

"Exactly how big is that bed?"

There was a moment of silence and then her laughter rang out over the line and he glanced in the rearview mirror to see her shoulders shaking as she gripped the steering wheel. And he couldn't help but feel that despite the emotional turmoil of the trip, his doubts about the future, the politics of both the international committee and the SGC, and the constant threats they faced in the Pegasus galaxy, everything really was all right.


End file.
